The Hero's Song
by SerenAananai
Summary: Link is on a mission to rescue Zelda, a dear and valued friend, after the devastation the Evil King Ganondorf brought down upon Hyrule Castle five years prior, leaving Link with a crippling and near fatal wound. Hiding her identity as a woman to protect her loved ones, she searches for the Sages to ally her in taking down Ganondorf, but a Dark Shadow follows with unclear intentions


"Hya!" I shouted as I swung my sword in annoyance at the flock of Guay, effectively cutting them down and ending their wretched existence. I sheathed my sword as I watched the dead large crow-like creatures evaporate into dark clouds and dissipate. I took a deep breath as I continued to make my way to the Kokiri Forest, my former home. I was nearing the tree arches that signified the entrance into the forest, where I knew my old friends wouldn't recognize me anymore. I had grown up, being away from my home for nearly ten years. I looked off into the distance, watching the orange sun set, illuminating the silhouette of Hyrule Castle; the home of the once illustrious King of Hyrule and his beloved daughter and my best friend, Princess Zelda. But the king is dead, and the princess is in hiding, thanks to the wretched Gerudo King, now known as the Evil King Ganondorf. I frowned and shook my head, trying to rid myself of the dark memories.

"Link!" a high pitched voice called out to me, pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked up at the small blue fairy that was fluttering in front of me, her light blue face full of concern.

"Link, are you okay? You've been staring out at the sun for a while…" I smiled softly and gently patted her head with the tip of my finger.

"I'm okay Navi. I… I'm just a bit tired. We should probably camp tonight, since we're so close to Kokiri already." I untied the bundle of deku sticks that I had been collecting from the bottom of my pack. Within minutes I had a roaring campfire bright enough to keep the emerging Stalchildren at bay; they do so hate bright lights. I sat, my back resting against one of the large oak trees that made the archway to the forest. I could've played the Sun's Song on my ocarina to fast forward through the night, freezing me in a protective field of magic that would suspend me until day break, but I desperately needed the rest and would be unable to when trapped in the stasis magic of the Sun's Song. I had been traversing Hyrule field on foot for three days with very little rest, fighting off peahats and their larvae, stalchildren, poes and a number of other creatures that inhabit and roam the land of Hyrule. It would have taken less time, perhaps a day and a half, if I had my beloved horse Epona.

But she had gotten injured when we had last traveled; helping a shaman transport valuable goods from the Ordona Province, a small province that resides just outside the boarders of Hyrule, to Kakariko Village. I sighed, the guilt of having let a rogue arrow from a bandit hit Epona's leg flow through me. But I wasn't too worried about her recovery. She was currently up in Lonlon Ranch where my friend Malon's elder sister, Cremia, who is an accomplished veterinarian, was looking after her. Romani, the youngest sister and Cremia's apprentice had sent me a letter recently about Epona's much improving health. I hoped to ride her again soon. I missed her so.

"Link," Navi's usually cheery voice was soft, bringing my full attention to her, she fluttered down and landed on my knee.

"Do you think that, if we do defeat Ganondorf, that Hyrule will be able to revive? Will everything go back to normal?" she looked at me, her sapphire eyes looking up at me as if expecting me to say yes outright. But she knew me better than that. I was never one to honey-coat anything to her. She was my fairy after all. My familiar and friend who has been with me ever since I left the forest. I inhaled and chose my words carefully.

"Perhaps in time, Navi. If we do defeat Ganondorf and find Zelda, it may take a long time for the scars that were left by evil to heal. Hell, it may even take a generation or two for the damage to be rectified. But if we succeed, and I assure you we will, then we can at least begin the healing process for the land." I poked at the fire with a long deku stick, adjusting the burning sticks and twigs and stoking the fire. She fluttered up excitedly.

"You're right Link! We can't lose heart now! It has been five years and we finally have a lead on Zelda, so we can't give up!" she shouted, her voice falling into a sound of a tinkling bell. I smiled and sighed softly as she flew around the fire. It truly has been five years; five years since I was made a Knight of the Royal Guard. Five years since Ganondorf decided to make his move and attack the castle, killing His Highness and causing Zelda to flee the castle with her guard and nursemaid Impa, a skilled warrior of the Shiekah tribe. I remember every detail of the attack, all the way to the point of my injury. I rubbed my left shoulder, feeling through my tunic and chainmail the very edge of a long, deep scar that started on my shoulder, and ended on my right hip. I was "honored" by the Evil King himself for this great injury. I took a deep breath and pulled out some salted jerky from a tanned hide in my pack, as well as a bottle of spring water. From a smaller pouch I pulled out some dried berries and gave some to Navi. We ate in silence, and set ourselves to rest for the night, Navi snuggled herself in my shoulder length blonde hair as I sat myself in a more comfortable slouching position, a combat knife resting comfortably in my hand and my shield adorned with the Hylian Crest of the Royal Family, laying on my opposing side

)0(

 _He stood in shadow, watching his light counterpart with disdain as he fell asleep against a tree. How he wished he could end his counterpart's life right now! But because his current form was only a Shadow, a sort of astral projection of himself that can travel outside of his current imprisonment, he could not. It was his only way to observe the world until he can face his counterpart in person, but he knows that would take some time. After all, he was trapped beneath a gods-forsaken lake! His anger radiated from the shadow, frightening off the nearby guay that perched upon the oak arches. He simply stood there, unable to do anything else but watch his counterpart sleep peacefully. He studied his counterpart's face: Lightly tanned skin was blemish free and smooth, with light brown, nearly blonde eyebrows perfectly arched over large, sharp eyes the color of Lake Hylia's depths. He has surprisingly long and thick lashes for a man, as they swept down elegantly and casted shadows on his counterpart's cheek from the fire. His lips were full and perfectly sculpted, slightly parted in his sleep. His face was surprisingly feminine as it stood in a relaxed yet guarded demeanor. It confused the shadow greatly. This was his counterpart, but it looked almost nothing like him!_

 _Though every part of him was dark as ink and unable to distinguish any detail, the shadow touched his cheek and felt his own features. Unlike his counterpart, his features were more masculine. More sharp opposed to his light counterpart's softer, rounder features. The shadow shook his head and growled again, causing the guay to fly away. The light counterpart stirred slightly and turned his head to the side, a soft sigh escaping his lips. The shadow glared at his counterpart, then sneered._

 _"_ _Soon… I will end you, Link." He declared as he faded into the darkness._

 _)0(_

I moved away the ashes of the dying fire and added some fallen oak branches into the small fire. I heard the distant crowing from a cucco signifying the arrival of morning. A new day. I set a handful of deku seeds into the hot ash of the reviving fire, allowing them to roast for my breakfast. Navi hovered sleepily around my head as she ate a dried berry. I ate a small handful of berries as I watched the deku seeds roast and pop in the fire. What a disappointing breakfast, but I had very little food on my person. I hadn't gone hunting in some time, and my rations were running low. I knew I can get some food from Kokiri forest, but my focus was to the Lost Woods. Even though it has been a long time, I still knew those woods like the back of my own hand. And it was this knowledge that would help me to get to the Forest Temple, where I needed to liberate it from Ganondorf's evil influence.

I carefully raked the now roasted seeds from the ashes and allowed them to cool. I sighed, finding myself longing for the sweet pumpkin potage and fried salted meat in Anju's Inn in Kakariko. Anju was another dear friend I had met the first time seven years ago when I first traveled to Kakariko with my fellow knights in training. We had stayed at the inn for a few days, and Anju and I had become close. She is one of the few people that knew my wretched secret: that I was a Woman.

Yes. My name is Link and I am a woman. I was named after my ancestors, the heroes chosen by the Goddesses. But my predecessors were all male, and thus it was a tradition to name them after the original Hero, Link. Needless to say how surprising it was, the day I was born to my Hylian mother and Royal guard father, that I was marked with the Triforce upon my left hand: the symbol of the Hero Chosen by the Goddesses. So I was named Link, and that was all that I knew of my life before coming to the Kokiri Forest.

I was born during the climax of a great civil war within Hyrule. My father had perished in the war shortly after my birth, and my mother had fled to Kokiri Forest, gravely injured in hopes of saving my life. She had succeeded and left me with the people of the forest and the guardian spirit of the forest, the Great Deku Tree. And thus I was raised Kokiri, until the age of nine when Navi came to me as my familiar and fairy, and I was summoned by the Great Deku tree and learned of my origins. At that time, I didn't know anything about being a hero or the power I weld. But when the Great Deku Tree told me that it was my destiny to leave the forest and become a knight of the Royal Family, I was devastated. I remember the pain and hurt I felt from the information I had received. I hadn't told anyone, not even my then best friend Saria. I left that night, stealing the only treasure of the forest: The Kokiri sword. I had then set off to Hyrule.

I shook my head as I buried my memories along with the last of the fire, extinguishing it entirely. I readjusted my gauntlets, made of hard leather and iron and slung my pack ono my back once again.

"Are you ready Navi?" I asked as the small blue fairy flew around my head excitedly.

"Definitely! It feels nice to come home after such a long time." She said excitedly, her high voice the soft sounds of bells as she spoke. A wonderful quality of Kokiri Fairies; their voices sound like bells when they speak, and can only be understood by the ones they choose, as well as ones of great magical prowess and others who've been chosen by Kokiri fairies. I smiled as we made our way through the oak arches.

We were surrounded by darkness as the sunlight was blocked by the giant hallowed oak that served as a tunnel to the forest. My heart started to beat hard, my nerves rising at the prospect of returning to my former home. It has been so long, and I was curious to see how much has changed.

I shielded my eyes from the bright sunlight as we emerged from the tunnel, and stood in shock as my eyes readjusted to the light. The village that I grew up in was absolutely overrun with Deku Babas and hostile Deku Scrubs! Navi cried out in anguish as I drew my sword and shield. This wasn't happening! This once lively and peaceful village was overrun. I slashed my sword at a Deku Baba, cutting it from the stem to kill it as I blocked a rapidly approaching Deku nut that a scrub shot at me! It shot another one at me and I used my shield to deflect it and send it back to the wretched creature. Deku scrubs were forest beings that were only hostile to protect its property; a small patch of earth that it has settled itself to grow and live in, as they were humanoid plants people with large tree like bodies, golden eyes and a large mouth that resembles a hollow trunk and large leaves of varying types. They had some intelligence and were natural merchants and if you managed to stop one from attacking you, they were pleasant to talk to and were much more gentile when they weren't feeling threatened.

However, these Deku scrubs, often called Mad scrubs, were smaller with an angry aura about them, their eyes blood red and glowing, and their normally green foliage red and orange with black veins, and their Deku nuts, normally the size of a small melon, was the size of a large pumpkin! I grunted at the force of the nut hitting my shield as I angled it to deflect it back to the scrub. It worked as it stunned the scrub, giving me an opening to cut it down. After some time, I had cleared the small village of the hostile foes. I sheathed my sword after I cut down the last Deku Baba, a large blue plant akin to a Venus Flytrap with large, blue, pod-like flower heads that had vine-like tongues that lashed out to grab and stun small animals and insects and devour them. Their teeth were small and blunt and though it could devour small animals, it can cause some damage to a fully grown man, its power lying mostly in its bite. They stood tall, just a head taller than myself, which made their attack, a powerful lunge forward while biting, a formidable attack. But they were easy enough to avoid, as they were limited by their own stems. They couldn't extend beyond the length of their own stems, and if avoided correctly, one can use their attack to their advantage and cut the stem, effectively killing the Deku Baba.

I looked around the now purged village. I saw the faces in the carved windows of the tree houses that dotted the village; homes made from hollowed tree trunks and tree houses that were built in the boughs of the trees. The faces of the Kokiri inhabitants: young children, all in varying ages from five to twelve years of age and no older. The Kokiri were another, almost mythical race that only exists in the Kokiri forest. They never aged and were eternally children. Although this seems like a dream come true to those who dread aging, they were unable to ever leave the forest. The Kokiri were known as the fairy children and were tied to the forest. If they ever would to leave, they would die.

I walked to the center of the village, feeling the eyes of all my old friends as I took out my ocarina, which was the only relic I had left from my time in the village. I took a deep breath, and began to play. I played the song slowly at first to coax the Kokiri to listen, then I brought up the tempo to normal, allowing the bright notes of a very familiar song flow throughout the village. It was the very first song I learned, taught to me by Saria, who wrote it. She said it was the song of the forest that flowed through the hearts of all Kokiri and was filled with the feelings of friendship and peacefulness. I played the song, seeing the Kokiri children coming out of their homes timidly. I continued to play as Navi danced around my head, slowly being joined by the other fairies. Soon, the children of the forest began to dance and sing, joining in with crudely carved flutes and small hand drums. I felt my heart swell with familiar joy and levity of years ago, before my fate became known, as the Kokiri celebrated their liberation.

After some time, the Kokiri approached, grabbing onto my tunic and bombarding me with questions, unbalancing and overwhelming me.

"You saved us mister!"

"Why do you have a Kokiri tunic, mister?"

"Do you know Saria? do you?!

"Are you a friend of the forest? You know the forest song!"

"You were so neat, mister!"

They were all grabbing at me, jumping close to me, tugging me this way and that, all trying to gain my attention. I lost balance and fell back onto my bum, laughing. Oh, it felt so wonderful to be home again! I sat with them made a small campfire and answered some of their questions vaguely. I began to feel relaxed after eating the familiar and nostalgic food that the Kokiri offered me, and resting among the company of my old friends; although I did not reveal that I am the Link they once knew. I didn't want to risk their lives any more than it has already been threatened by associating with me intimately. It was a bittersweet feeling, but it was for their own safety.

I felt a tug on my tunic sleeve, and looked at the Child responsible.

"Hey mister, are you going to the Forest temple? Are you going to go help Saria?" she asked. My eyes widened.

"Saria?" I looked around and sure enough, my old best friend was nowhere to be seen. I felt the panic rise in my chest.

"Where is she? What happened to her?" I asked gently, trying not to frighten the child despite my panic.

"She went to the Forest Temple. She said that the voices of the forest spirits were calling out for help." She said sadly, a small worried frown on her lips.

I felt my heart drop to the pit of my stomach. _Saria…_

I stood, adjusting my chain-mail and my gauntlets and made my way to the entrance of The Lost Woods with the children in tow.

"Mister, you aren't thinking about going into the Lost Woods, are you?"

"Yes." I answered the child.

One of the children giggled. "Be careful not to get lost in there, mister. Any adult that gets lost in there are doomed to turn into a Stalfos, and wander for-ev-er!" she sing-songed. I paused. She was right. I haven't been in these woods for nearly ten years, and the confidence I had about navigating the woods wavered slightly. No! I shook my head. I was being ridiculous. For nine years I wandered those woods, I know it like the back of my own hand. I steeled my nerves and made my way through the entrance to the woods.


End file.
